NEW AD: Top Retired Military Leaders Say: 'Try terrorists in federal courts'

For Immediate Release

NEW AD: Top Retired Military Leaders Say: 'Try terrorists in federal courts'

WASHINGTON - Top ranking retired military leaders are pushing back against false
allegations made in a recent spate of political attack ads in
Pennsylvania designed to scare voters about trying terrorism cases in
federal courts.

The retired generals and admirals released a television ad today
contrasting the federal courts' record of convicting 400 terrorists
since 9/11—including the high profile cases of the Shoe Bomber and the
Blind Sheik—with the military commissions' conviction of only four
terrorists to date. The thirty-second advertisement, produced by Human
Rights First, will air on network stations in Pennsylvania.

Like the original attacks, the military leaders' response take on the
case of accused terrorist mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who
retired four-star generals Joseph Hoar, former Commander-in-Chief of the
Central Command, and David Maddox, former Commander in Chief of the US
Army in Europe, call a "murder" and a "common thug."

The military leaders assert that attempts to circumvent the rightful
role of the federal courts feeds Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's grandiose and
dangerous delusions that he is a "hero," rather than just a criminal.

"We have the tools we need to put Khalid Sheikh Mohammed away," adds
former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Lt. General Harry
Soyster.

"The cynical attempt to politicize the very fitness of our federal
courts runs counter to America's national security interests,"
saidformer commander of the 28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania Army
National Guard, Major General (Retired) Walter Stewart, who is active
with the military leaders group, but does not appear in the
advertisement.

"Pennsylvania voters are practical people. Once they have the facts
in hand, they will understand the imperative of bringing terrorists to
justice in our federal courts. They are, after all, the only venue with a
proven track record of successfully handling these cases," Stewart
added.

This group of retired military leaders was first convened by Human
Rights First in 2005 to bring to bear their hundreds of years of
combined military experience on the national debate over the impact of
post-9/11 policies on the United States' long-term national interest.
They urge that prisoner treatment and detention policies comply with the
Geneva Conventions and reflect U.S. laws, values and security
interests. The group was instrumental in winning passage of legislation,
known as the McCain amendment, which prohibited the use of torture
techniques such as waterboarding.

In one-on-one meetings with Pennsylvania's congressional candidates
this past summer, the group continued its efforts to educate about the
security imperatives of closing Guantanamo, rejecting torture, and
trying terrorists in federal courts. They held similar meetings during
this election cycle in Delaware and Illinois.

These same retired military leaders were active in the last election
cycle meeting one-on-one with eight of the presidential candidates.
President Obama, Vice President Biden, Governor Huckabee and Secretary
Clinton have all publicly credited this group with influencing their
thinking on the treatment of enemy prisoners. Many from this group stood
with the President in the Oval Office on his second day in office when
he signed Executive Orders ending torture, secret prisons, and promising
to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay.

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Human Rights First is a non-profit, nonpartisan international human rights organization based in New York and Washington D.C. Human Rights First believes that building respect for human rights and
the rule of law will help ensure the dignity to which every individual
is entitled and will stem tyranny, extremism, intolerance, and violence.

Further

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